Antecedentes
A world leading designer company of sports events, Populous provides logistical services to major sports events companies around the globe. Among its most representative projects in designing sports events at different parts of the world, is the design of the Soccer City Stadium of Johannesburg, built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Populous also provides logistical services for large sports events. Among its most important projects in this field is the 2012 London Olympics and the Super Bowl XLIV.
Populous has realized after years of research that RFID Technology can help processes streamline better. Thus the company has been able to provide important statistics to its end-clients.
In addition to making large events safer, RFID can efficiently capture information that is valuable for clients. Partnering with Kimbaya, Populous was able to include RFID technology into their processes at the NACDA Annual Convention.

El Reto
To create a reliable system capable of registering information about the circulation of people through RFID checkpoints, through which the following statistical information can be generated about the event:

• Time spent at the event
• Time spent in given areas
• Inputs and outputs
• The actual amount of attendees
• Information that can help determine the amount of interest paid to certain areas.

System features:

Reliability: High level of reliability that allows to efficiently capture information.

Ease of use: A manageable, robust system.

Synchronization: Able to upload information about massive numbers of people.

The solution

Kimbaya conducted a site study to determine what the most convenient location for the RFID antennas is.
At the beginning of the event, information about registrants synchronizes through a Microsoft ExcelTM file or CSV.
The data acquisition service manages the readers, receives the information by the RFID readers, and stores the information in the database.

The staff management component allows for report generating.

Hardware

The system consists of four RFID readers with their respective antennas, which are installed at the different gates of the single point of access to where the event trade fair was being carried out.

Software

Kimbaya used their very own FreKuencyTM 2.0, a platform for staff registering and tracking, and its KAPATM 2.0 data acquisition service for the management of readers, which works as a Windows service
The system uses an application that can accurately keep track of registrants, generate reports, and synchronize information about the number of people registered on the software.
In addition we made an application for reading and programming RFID cards, a software component that captures information and using it as input for the application.

Results

Populous has shown that by integrating RFID Technology, operational efficiency goes up, which allows one to be at the vanguard in logistical services for large-scale events.
An effective tool for event organizers, massive information-gathering of people flow at trade fairs leads to better results for event organizers, as it allows to generate oriented market strategies and effective, accurate decision-making.
By being able to identify employees and assistants at massive events, RFID enhances security and access control, and helps detect ticket fraud.